12 Key Strategies to a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign

&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;Crowdfunding has witnessed some spectacular fails&period; Don't let your project be one of them&period;&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;

Crowdfunding is a great way to earn money for a project&comma; product or personal business venture&period; Since getting its start&comma; crowdfunding has helped entrepreneurs all over the world get the financial support they need&period; In 2015 alone&comma; crowdfunding raised &dollar;34&period;4 billion - more than twice as much as was raised in 2014&comma; and the numbers have only continued to rise&period;

Projects funded via crowdfunding platforms are also wide-ranging&period; People have gotten the funding they needed for causes ranging from paying for funeral expenses to school trips or medical expenses&period; And of course startups have been a primary focus&period;

But not all of these projects and campaigns do well&period; Many have failed to raise what they asked for&period; Even big projects which seemed well-planned and advertised have failed&period;

Some of the biggest crowdfunding failures&quest; They've included the iBackPack -- a chic backpack that could have been a data hotspot but suddenly went dark&semi; the Elio Motor Scooter&comma; a three-wheeled electric vehicle&comma; whose release date was indefinitely pushed back&semi; and the Cataldo Medical Care fund&comma; intended to help a woman in Alabama fight "cancer" &lpar;she was later convicted of fraud&rpar;&period;

If you want your crowdfunding campaign to avoid a similar fate&comma; these 12 keys can help you establish and market your new personal project or business venture&period;

1&period; Do your research&period;

Before you even start your crowdfunding campaign&comma;do your research&period; This doesn't mean exploring your product or idea &lpar;that should already have been done&excl;&rpar;&colon; It means researching everything you need to know about crowdfunding&comma; to mine for more success strategies&period; Not only should you know how to run a successful campaign&comma; you should be aware of all the rules and regulations surrounding this funding source&period;

2&period; Choose the right platform&period;

There are a lot of different crowdfunding platforms out there&period; While some are general&comma; others are specific to particular industries and niches&period; Consider your project parameters and do your research to find the platform best suited to what you're offering&period; Remember that the right platform will help you connect to your target market and potential investors&period;

3&period; Offer more than just an idea&period;

When you're ready to start your campaign&comma; have more than just an idea in hand&period; Some projects don't involve a physical product&semi; if yours does&comma; have a working prototype you can show off as an example to potential investors&period; Even the famed Star Citizen video game&comma; which broke crowdfunding records despite not having even been coded yet&comma; had more to show than just the promise of the world's most anticipated&comma; cutting-edge video game&period;

4&period; Know your target audience&period;

Before you create any marketing materials or post your campaign live&comma; do the research necessary to become familiar with your target audience&period; Sit down and write out what it is that that audience wants&period; You can't just assume you know what that is&semi; you need to do actual research and gather real data to help you become more familiar with those you are targeting&period;

5&period; Create marketing materials&period;

Once you know who your target audience is and what they want&comma; create high-quality print and web marketing materials&period; You don't need to copy the videos or fliers of another company -- you should personalize materials to yourself and your message&period; But avoid tacky&comma; cheesy pieces unless they what truly fit with your project&period;

6&period; Set goals&period;

When starting a crowdfunding campaign&comma; set goals&period; Not only should you decide beforehand what your total fund-raising goal is&comma; you should also specify time line goals&comma; production goals and any other ones needed to keep your project moving forward&period;

7&period; Make the reward worthwhile&period;

While you're not required to reward your investors&comma; offering something in return for their support makes for a more successful campaign&period; Make sure that any reward you offer is worthwhile&comma; as well&period; A hand-written thank-you note is nice&comma; but it won't likely motivate people to invest&period;

8&period; Get personal&period;

Whether your project is personal or is a new business venture&comma; get personal in your message to investors&period; When people feel that they know you&comma; they'll feel more comfortable with&comma; and trust in&comma; your goals&period; Opening up about yourself and your situation is a great way to help your campaign see more success&period; Keep in mind that it is possible to overshare&comma; though&period;

9&period; Spread the word&period;

Once you've published your crowdfunding campaign&comma; start spreading the word&period; Share your campaign on social media&comma; with family and friends&comma; on blogs and anywhere else where you can get it out there&period; The wider your reach&comma; the more potential you have for investors to see it&period;

10&period; Communicate openly&period;

Communicate with your investors throughout the entire process&period; This also helps to build trust&period; While you don't need to tell them every detail&comma; be as open and transparent as possible&period; Don't just pitch them or try to sell to them&comma; either&semi; people know when they're hearing hot air&period;

12&period; Follow through on your promises&period;

Don't forget any of the promises you've made during your campaign&comma; whether they were to your entire investor group or certain individuals&period; If you follow through on your promises&comma; you'll not only build credibility for any future projects&comma; you'll also avoid disappointing your investors&period;